Device for deviating in a changeable direction a flow of matter

ABSTRACT

A device for delivering a flow of matter in a variable direction, comprising an inlet piece and an outlet piece, said pieces being interconnected in a ball-jointlike manner in which the forces caused by the flowing pressure and tending to move the two pieces apart are compensated by a tie member disposed in the flow passage through and between the two pieces.

United States Patent 386,547 7/1888 Martin:

Inventor Abram Jacobus Holleman Paltrokstraat, Zaandam, NetherlandsAppl. No. 868,169

Filed Oct. 21, 1969 Patented Oct. 12, 1971 Priority Oct. 21, 1968Netherlands 6815054 DEVICE FOR DEVIATING IN A CHANGEABLE DIRECTION AFLOW OF MATTER 3 Claims, 6 Drawing Figs.

US. Cl 239/587 B051) 15/08 Field of Search 239/587; 285/185, 261, 262

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 9/1907 Phillips, Jr. 285/262 X1,145,578 7/1915 Forth 285/262 1,187,588 6/1916 White.... 239/587 X2,111,553 3/1938 Chew 239/587 X 2,170,963 8/1939 Dahl 285/262 X PrimaryExaminer-Lloyd L. King Assistant Examiner-Thomas C. Culp, Jr.Att0rney-Marshall & Yeasting ABSTRACT: A device for delivering a flow ofmatter in a variable direction, comprising an inlet piece and an outletpiece, said pieces being interconnected in a ball-jointlike manner inwhich the forces caused by the flowing pressure and tending to move thetwo pieces apart are compensated by a tie member disposed in the flowpassage through and between the two pieces.

PATENIEU mm 2 I971 sum 2 or 3 13,612,408

FIG.2

PATENTEI] UEHZIBFI SHEET 30F 3 3,612,408

DEVICE FOR DEVIA'IING IN A CIIANGEABLE DIRECTION A FLOW F MATTERBACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention This inventionrelates to a device for delivering a flow of matter, such as a liquid(e.g. water), foam and the like, in a variable direction. An example ofsuch a device is a watergun used for tire-extinguishing purposes. Withdevices of this type the jetlike outlet piece must be able to takevarious positions with respect to the inlet piece, the latter taking amore or less fixed elevational position with respect to a supportingsurface, such as the pavement of a street, a deck of a ship or the like.

2. Description of the Prior Art For firing purposes it has been known touse a device, comprising an inlet piece and a jetlike outlet piece, thelatter consisting of two branches, the upstream ends of which are bentone towards another and are pivotally supported in the ends of a crossbore of the inletpiece, the latter being mounted for adjustment rotationabout a vertical axis onto a water-supplyconnecting piece. In dependenceof the device being used as a transportable fire-extinguishing gun in astreet or similar circumstances, or at a more-or-less fixedlocation,such as on a deck of a ship or on a vehicle, the water-supply connectingpiece is supported on legs or fixed to the supporting surface. Adisadvantage with the transportable watergun is the tendency to betilted rearwardly by the reaction force caused by the outflowing waterjet, so that the device requires a continuous watch. Besides theconstruction is rather complicated in view of the two separate pivotconnections and the two worm gear mechanisms as used for adjusting thepositions of the outlet piece and of the inlet piece respectively.

A' disadvantage of the stationary embodiment of the wellknown water gun,e.g. on board of a ship is to be seen in the fact that the adjustmentgears do not permit carrying out quick-and smooth movements of theoutlet piece for compensating the continuous movements of the ship.

A'common disadvantage of both of the embodiments is the relatively largenumber of curves in the flowing path through the device, which means-arelatively high loss of pressure.

SUMMARY The invention aims at providing a device for delivering a flowof matter in a variable direction in which an outlet piece may beuniversally moved relative to an inlet piece in an easy manner, and evenunder high working pressures.

It isanother object of the invention to provide a device for deliveringa flow of matter in a variable direction, in which an outlet piece maybe readily and universally moved relative to an inlet piece and in whichthe height of the pivot connection between the two pieces above thesupporting surface may be kept relatively small, so that the device willhave little tendency to tilt rearwardly under the reaction of the flowof matter leaving the outlet piece under a relatively small elevationangle.

In accordance with the present invention a device for delivering a flowof matter in a variable direction is provided,

comprising an inlet piece having supply-connecting means,

and an outlet piece pivotally connected with said inlet piece, in whichthe interconnected ends of the two pieces have mating, partiallyspherically shaped, inner and outer surfaces respectively, a tie memberbeing provided in the flowing passage between the two pieces, saidmember being connected to said outlet piece at a point adjacent thecenter of the common spherical surface, defining said inner and outersurfaces, and on the other hand being connected to a point of said inletpiece located upstreamof said center.

Further characteristics and advantages of the invention will becomeapparentin the accompanying drawings, which show two preferredembodiments of the invention.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a longitudinal section of adevice according to the invention, suitable for displacement from onesite to another, and shown in a central position;

FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view of the same device, as seen accordingto the arrows IIll in FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a partially sectional view of a device according to theinvention in a second embodiment, suitable for being installed in astationary manner and shown in a central position;

FIG. 4 is an end view of the lower part of the device according to FIG.3, as seen from the left in FIG. 3;

FIG. 5 is an enlarged cross-sectional view of a detail of the deviceaccordingto FIG. 3 and 4 and FIG. 6 is an enlarged cross-sectional viewof the same detail, but now seen according to the arrows VI-VI in FIG.5.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS With reference to FIG. 1-2, thedevice shown as a transportable water gun consists of an inlet piece 10and an outlet piece 11, the latter being movable relative to the former.The inlet'piece 10 is provided with three support legs l2, l3 and 14,adapted to support the inlet piece 10 in a stable manner on asubstantially horizontal surface.

The inlet piece has a supply-connecting part, which is formed by twoconnections 17 and 18, provided with exterior screw threads and adaptedto be connected to tire hoses (not shown). The two passages and 16 ofthe connections 17 and 18 merge into a single passage 19, which in turnmerges into the space 20 of a cup-shaped end portion of the inlet piece10, said end portion having a semispherical inner surface 21.

The outlet piece 11 has a central passage 22, gradually tapering in theoutflowing direction. To the end of the outlet piece 11 turned away fromthe inlet piece a jet 24 is connected by means of a union 23. This jet24 is provided with internally disposed guide blades 25 and has anoutlet opening 26 as an extension of the passage 22 of the outlet piece11.

The outer surface of the outlet piece 11 is for the greater partmachined according to a spherical surface, the diameter of which isslightly smaller than that of the cup-shaped end portion of the inletpiece 10. About one-half of the spherical annular outer surface 27 ofthe outlet piece 11 is surrounded. and engaged by the cup-shaped endportion of the inlet piece 10, so that a ball-joint-like connectionbetween the two pieces is formed permitting a universal pivotingmovement of the outlet piece 11 with its jet 24 relative to the inletpiece 10. The joint is sealed by means of a sealing ring 29, seated in acircumferential groove 28 of the surface 27.

As the semispherical inner surface 21 of the cup-shaped end portion ofthe inlet piece 10 extends through an angle of about only, the outletpiece 11 with its jet 24-when put into practice--would be readily forcedout of its cup-shaped seat by the action of the work pressure, which maybe as high as 10 atm. or even more.

It is known per se to provide the cup-shaped part of a ball joint with aretaining ring, adapted to keep the male part of the joint seated in thecup-shaped part. Such a retaining ring, however, would not solve theretaining problem with a water gun in a satisfying manner. Under theaction of the working pressure the spherical end portion 27 of theoutlet piece 11 would be pressed against the retaining ring so tightly,that under working pressure conditions the outlet piece with its jetcould not be readily adjusted relative to the inlet piece 10, which ofcourse would be highly unsatisfactory.

Therefore according to the invention a different type of retaining andreleasing member 34 is used, extending through a part of the spaceconstituted by the passage 22, the space 20 and the passage 19. Theretaining and release member 34 is constituted by a tie rod having atits end facing towards the outlet piece 11 an eyelet or ring 33, whichengages a ballshaped enlargement 31 of the central section of a crosspin 32 mounted in the outlet piece I1. The center 30 of the ballshapedenlargement 31 coincides with the center of the spherical annularsurface 27 of the outlet piece 11. The inner circumferential surface ofthe eyelet or ring 33 cooperating with the ball-shaped enlargement 31has been correspondingly spherically shaped. An eyelet 35 is provided atthe other end of the tie rod 34, said eyelet engaging an eccentricallydisposed section 37 of a cross pin 36 mounted for rotary adjustment inthe inlet piece 10. A crank-shaped end section 38 of the pin 36 extendsbeyond the inlet piece and serves as a handle for adjustment purposes.By turning the pin 36 by means of the handle 38 the outlet piece 11 maybe pulled more or less tightly into the cup-shaped portion of the inletpiece 10 through the tie rod 34. An average angular position of thehandle 38 and consequently the average effective length of the tie rod34 corresponds with the relative position of the inlet and outletpieces, in which the center of the ballshaped enlargement 31 and of thespherical annular surface 27 coincides with the center of thesemispherical inner surface 21 of the inlet piece 10. In the latterposition the sealing ring 29 is slightly compressed and the outlet piece11 can be easily and universally pivoted relative to the inlet piece 10.If the connection between the two pieces would be or become too loose,so that for example the outlet piece with its jet would tend to tiltdownwardly from its adjusted position, the effective length of the tierod 34 may be slightly shortened by turning the handle 38, as a resultof which the outlet piece 11 will become seated more tightly in thecup-shaped portion of the inlet piece 10.

In FIG. I, 2 the outlet piece 11 is shown in a central position, fromwhich position the outlet piece may be universally pivoted through anangle A, which may be about 30. In the central position the angle ofelevation is also about 30. Thus the pivoting range ofthe outlet piece11 with itsjet 24 is determined by a cone having an apex angle of 2A.The mechanical limit of this pivoting range is formed by acircumferential shoulder 39 at the intersection between the sphericallyshaped surface 27 and the remainder of the outer surface of the outletpiece 11. The shoulder 39 cooperates as an abutment with the edge 40 ofthe cup-shaped portion of the inlet piece 10. Due to the widening of theinner end of the passage 22 a sufficient passage from the inlet piece tothe outlet piece 11 is ensured in any angular position of the outletpiece 11 relative to the inlet piece 10, while the cross pin 32 and thetie rod 34, having relatively small cross-sectional dimensions, areconstituting hardly any resistance in the flowing path through the balljoint.

FIG. 36 show a water gun constructed according to the invention andadapted for being fixedly mounted on a supporting surface, e.g. on thedeck of a ship or on a vehicle. In this embodiment the supply-connectingpiece 50, having a flow passage 53, constitutes a separate piece, ontowhich the inlet piece 52 is mounted for adjusting rotation about avertical axis 51. The supply-connecting piece 50 is adapted to beconnected with its lower end to a stationary water supply pipe (notshown). The inlet piece 52 has a cup-shaped end portion 55, similar tothe cup-shaped end portion of the inlet piece 10 in the firstembodiment, while the construction of the outlet piece 56 with its jet60 is also similar to that of the outlet piece 11 with its jet 24 inFIG. 1 and 2.

The inlet piece 52 is substantially shaped as a bend, having at itsdownwardly facing end 54 an axially extending collar 70 surrounding anupper flange of the supply-connecting piece 50 with a small clearance.In the opposing cylindrical inner and outer circumferential surfaces 71,73 respectively of the collar 70 and of the upper flange of theconnecting piece 50 an inner circumferential groove 74 and an outercircumferential groove 72 are machined, said grooves forming together anannular track for a plurality of balls 75. The balls 75 provide for anantifriction bearing for the inlet piece 52, enabling an easy turningmovement of the inlet piece 52 relative to the connecting piece 50. Theconnection between the two pieces 50 and 52 is sealed by an O-ring 80seated partially in a groove 79 and partially in a groove 78 machined inthe opposing surfaces 77 and 76 respectively of the connecting piece andthe inlet piece.

For assembling purposes the collar 70 is provided with a hole 90,intersecting the groove 72 in such a way that the balls may be readilyintroduced into the ball track through the said hole, when the two pipes50 and 52 are assembled. After the balls 75 have been introduced in theball track, the hole is plugged by a pin 91, locked in place by alocking screw 92.

If desired the inlet piece 52 may be fixed in an adjusted angularposition by means of a cam lever 81, pivotally connected to the collar70 about a pivot pin 82, the cam 83 of which cooperates with an annularbearing surface 84 of an intermediate flange of the connecting piece 50.By turning the cam lever 81 the cam 83 may be urged to move the inletpiece 52 and the connecting piece 50 slightly apart, due to which thetwo pieces become clamped more or less tightly one relative to the otherthrough the balls 75, after which it has become more difficult to turnthe inlet piece relative to the connecting piece.

The water gun according to FIG. 3-6 is provided with a tie rod 62similar to the tie rod 34 in the embodiment of FIG. 1 and 2. The onlydifference in comparison with FIG. 1 and 2 is to be seen in that in theembodiment according to FIG. 3-6 the upstream end 61 of the tie rodextends beyond an enlargement of the inlet piece 52 and forms a bearing63 carrying a cam lever 64, the cam 65 of which cooperates with a flatend surface 66 of said enlargement. By turning the cam lever 64 in onedirection or the other, the tie rod may be pulled more or less tightlyand as a result of this the outlet piece 56 will become seated more orless tightly in the cup-shaped end portion 55 of the inlet piece 52.

In the embodiments shown preferably use will be made ofcorrosion-resistant material such as stainless steel, bronze and thelike.

I claim:

1. A device for delivering a flow of matter in a variable directioncomprising an inlet piece having supply-connecting means, and an outletpiece pivotally connected with said inlet piece, in which theinterconnected ends of the two pieces have mating partially sphericallyshaped inner and outer surfaces respectively, a tie member beingprovided in the flowing passage between the two pieces, said memberbeing connected to said outlet piece at a point adjacent the center ofthe common spherical surface, defining said inner and outer surfaces,and on the other hand being connected to a point of said inlet piecelocated upstream of said center, the inlet piece being mounted for anadjusting rotary movement about a vertical axis on a stationaryconnecting piece, characterized in that the inlet piece is carried outas a hand, one axis of which is directed along the average elevationangle of the outlet piece, and the other axis of which is directeddownward and has an axially directed collar enclosing an upper flange ofsaid connecting piece and being supported by said flange with theintermediary of a ring of balls disposed in an annular track, defined byan outer circumferential groove of semicircular cross section in saidflange and an opposite inner circumferential groove of semicircularcross section in said collar, said collar being provided with a hole,intersecting the inner circumferential groove in such a way, that theballs may be introduced in said annular ball track through said hole,said hole being filled up by a removable pin.

2. A device according to claim 1, characterized in that a cam lever isdisposed between the collar and an intermediate flange of the connectingpiece, said lever being adapted to exert an axial force tending to movethe inlet piece and the connecting piece apart. 1

3. A water gun for fire extinguishing, comprising an inlet piece havingsupply-connecting means, and an outlet piece pivotally connected withsaid inlet piece, in which the interconnected ends of the two pieceshave mating partially spherically shaped inner and outer surfacesrespectively, a tie rod being provided in the flowing passage betweenthe two pieces, having one end engaging said outlet piece along apartially spherical surface concentrically disposed with respect to thecenter of said mating partially spherical surfaces, and having its otherend engaging said inlet piece at a point upstream of said center on thecam surface of a rotatable cam, said cam being provided with an externalhandle for rotating said cam to vary the tension in said rod.

1. A device for delivering a flow of matter in a variable directioncomprising an inlet piece having supply-connecting means, and an outletpiece pivotally connected with said inlet piece, in which theinterconnected ends of the two pieces have mating partially sphericallyshaped inner and outer surfaces respectively, a tie member beingprovided in the flowing passage between the two pieces, said memberbeing connected to said outlet piece at a point adjacent the center ofthe common spherical surface, defining said inner and outer surfaces,and on the other hand being connected to a point of said inlet piecelocated upstream of said center, the inlet piece being mounted for anadjusting rotary movement about a vertical axis on a stationaryconnecting piece, characterIzed in that the inlet piece is carried outas a band, one axis of which is directed along the average elevationangle of the outlet piece, and the other axis of which is directeddownward and has an axially directed collar enclosing an upper flange ofsaid connecting piece and being supported by said flange with theintermediary of a ring of balls disposed in an annular track, defined byan outer circumferential groove of semicircular cross section in saidflange and an opposite inner circumferential groove of semicircularcross section in said collar, said collar being provided with a hole,intersecting the inner circumferential groove in such a way, that theballs may be introduced in said annular ball track through said hole,said hole being filled up by a removable pin.
 2. A device according toclaim 1, characterized in that a cam lever is disposed between thecollar and an intermediate flange of the connecting piece, said leverbeing adapted to exert an axial force tending to move the inlet pieceand the connecting piece apart.
 3. A water gun for fire extinguishing,comprising an inlet piece having supply-connecting means, and an outletpiece pivotally connected with said inlet piece, in which theinterconnected ends of the two pieces have mating partially sphericallyshaped inner and outer surfaces respectively, a tie rod being providedin the flowing passage between the two pieces, having one end engagingsaid outlet piece along a partially spherical surface concentricallydisposed with respect to the center of said mating partially sphericalsurfaces, and having its other end engaging said inlet piece at a pointupstream of said center on the cam surface of a rotatable cam, said cambeing provided with an external handle for rotating said cam to vary thetension in said rod.